


Going To The Dogs

by mrsgunsage



Category: South Park
Genre: A little lemon juice but no actual lemons, I wrote my dogs into this, M/M, The Author Regrets Nothing, Title sucks because I never actually thought of one until asked by the postingbox, because my dogs are awesome and fuck you that is why, creek - Freeform, cute and fluffy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-08
Updated: 2018-05-08
Packaged: 2019-05-04 03:54:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14584386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mrsgunsage/pseuds/mrsgunsage
Summary: Craig's mom adopts a dog; he's wary at first but then end up adoring the animal.  Over the years he sees how good his dog is for Tweek's anxiety, and is determined to convince his boyfriends' parents that Tweek needs his own dog.





	1. Austin

**Author's Note:**

> Ch. 1 - I have the cutest, most lovable dogs on the planet. I also love writing Creek fics. Why not combine these two awesome things? Instead of MarySue-ing myself into the story… I’mma put my beautiful perfect puppers in it instead (which is pretty freaking AWESOME). You’re all welcome.

Craig was always a small pet kind of guy as far back as he could remember. He loved the various Stripes whole-heartedly and never really got attached to the endless array of stray cats his sister would bring in. Cats actually kind of pissed him off because they’d go into hunting mode and terrorize his poor piggies if given half a chance!

He’d finally put his foot down and appealed to his parents about making Trish keep her fleabag strays outside when one actually managed to get into his room and caught Stripe IV after he escaped his cage. Thankfully Craig had come straight home from school when an unexpected thunderstorm cancelled baseball practice or poor Stripe might not have survived. The fucking cat’s claws had ripped furrows into the frightened cavy’s flank and Craig had to take the poor little guy to the vet for stitches.

Trish argued against him loudly, but the cost of the vet bill pushed his parents to agree with him… no more cats were allowed in the house. They compromised with Trish when she started crying about it not being fair that Craig was allowed a pet but not her, and the kitties would freeze left outside. They installed a cat door on the side of the garage so the asshole felines wouldn’t suffer in the harsh Colorado winters. That was fine by Craig so long as they couldn’t get into the house and hurt his pigs; he wasn’t fond of the cats, but he didn’t want them to die either.

He’d never really considered himself much of a dog person, either. Stan’s dog was an annoying, ill-trained beast that pissed on everything and barked incessantly. Clyde’s dog was as thick-skulled as he was and tried to hump Craig’s leg every time he went to the Donovan’s house. Token’s dogs were more for protection than companionship and they kind of freaked Craig out. Jimmy had a pretty cool dog when they were younger, but she’d died of old age when they were still in elementary school and the Valmers hadn’t ever replaced her. Dogs weren’t really something he had a lot of experience with, so he didn’t waste his time thinking about them.

Thomas Tucker never made a secret of the fact that he wasn’t fond of Craig’s guinea pigs. Craig never outright asked because he didn’t want to know for sure, but he had his suspicions that Stripe III’s death wasn’t as accidental as his dad claimed. He also never made any secret of the fact that he hated Trish’s cats and the fact she named them after My Little Pony characters. He grudgingly tolerated their pets, and that was good enough for the Tucker children.

Then Laura Tucker had to go and throw a monkey wrench into everything. When Craig was in 7th grade and Trish was in 4th, their mom went back to school to become a vet tech. She loved animals, as evidenced by her willingness to indulge her kids’ whims with their pets despite Thomas not really liking animals much. While it wouldn’t be a huge increase in salary, she’d make more than the bank would ever pay her as a teller, and she’d be doing something she’d always wanted to do.

Suddenly Laura was coming home every evening with tales of dogs she worked with. Not just any dogs though, big ones; the kinds of dogs Thomas’s somewhat fragile masculinity deemed “badass” enough to be acceptable pets. Laura’s school took in dogs from various high kill shelters around Park County, and due to the pit bull bans in the big cities that meant the school got lots of pit bulls that would otherwise be euthanized.

While Craig was sympathetic to the issue of banning dogs just for being a specific breed and thought it was bullshit, he was more concerned one of the big slobbery beasts would be brought in to terrorize his poor Stripe. Stripe was fairly large for a guinea pig, but he would be defenceless against a 60 or 70 pound dog. He was also getting old and slow so he wouldn’t really be able to run away from a dog if he encountered one. If some mutt got hold of him, the shock of it would probably be enough to kill him.

When Craig started high school, Laura was doing her internships and starting to study for her board exams. Craig found that he did better with his own studying if he sat with his mom and they chatted softly or listened to music while working. Turned out all those years of locking himself up alone to work in silence were the problem with his grades, not his brain. Who knew? Trish and Token both preferred to study in quiet, but Tweek and Clyde both drifted into the study group Laura inadvertently got going and all three boys’ grades reflected it.

It was at one of these semi-impromptu study sessions that Laura dropped the big news on her son.

“Craig, I know you’ve been worried about other animals in the house because Stripe likes to escape and explore, but we’re going to the kennel at school on Saturday because I need you guys to meet one of the dogs.”

Craig’s head thudded down onto his algebra I book; his voice was muffled but Laura heard him anyways, “Damnit, Mom…”

She narrowed her eyes, deep blue and a perfect match to Craig’s, “Don’t you “damnit Mom” at me, Mister! Your dad and I have been talking about this for awhile now.”

Craig was glad Clyde wasn’t there, because he couldn’t stop the tears that gathered in his eyes, “Mom, Stripe already has arthritis because of Tricia’s stupid cat attacking him, and he’s getting pretty old for a guinea pig; he couldn’t even run to get away from a dog!”

Laura stood from the table to go check dinner and ran her hand through Craig’s hair on her way to the oven, “I did take that into consideration, Craig. We tested this particular dog to see how he reacted to cats and other small animals; he’s very gentle, I promise. There were a few others I liked that were really reactive to other animals so I passed on them. I’m not trying to make you and Trish give up your pets just because I’ve always wanted a dog, son.”

It was a testament to how upset he was that Craig forgot Tweek was sitting at the end of the table, privy to the entire conversation. When the blond reached for his hand to comfort him, Craig actually let out a small squeak of surprise, “I forgot you were here for a minute… sorry, babe.”

”W-well, that’s nice, my own b-boyfriend doesn’t remember when I’m sitting h-here”, Tweek huffed like he was offended, but Craig heard the laughter in his voice. He whispered an apology over to the blond and squeezed his hand.

Laura saw the exchange, but unlike Thomas or Tweek’s parents she didn’t take perverse joy in squealing over the boys’ relationship and embarrassing them constantly so she didn’t say anything. She thought they were absolutely adorable together, but she saw how they’d shy away from each other when Thomas or Richard and Diane started fangirling over them.

“Tweek, sweetheart, what does your schedule look like on Saturday?” Laura realized almost too late that with Tweek’s anxiety it would be best to make sure the dog she wanted to adopt wouldn’t react badly to the boy’s twitchiness before she brought him home. “Since you’re here so much I’d like you to come with us. I can call your parents if you’re supposed to be working…”

Craig felt a warm, squeezing sensation in his chest any time his mom casually included Tweek in something like he was already part of their family. He supposed the blond was part of the family after all of these years because the boys had known each other since Kindergarten, but it felt more special when it was acknowledged since they’d quit pretending and really started dating each other in 8th grade. “Mom, won’t your kennel be super loud and stuff? You’re always complaining about the dogs barking non-stop…”

“Oh Jesus! What if they hate me and they try to bite me?” Tweek wasn’t much of a dog person either, which was ironic because all of their friends’ dogs adored him. Even the Marsh’s annoying beast tried to love all over Tweek when they saw Stan out walking him.

Laura smiled over at the jittery blond, “They can’t bite you because they stay in their kennels. We will be out in the yard meeting one specific dog, not walking through the building. He’ll be on his leash until we see how he reacts to you guys, but I’ve been working with him for 2 years now and I promise he’s a very sweet and gentle dog.”

“Ngggh…. fine. I’m not supposed to work, but if you don’t mind calling my parents, Mrs. Tucker… you know how they are about putting me on weekends without advance notice.” Tweek looked a little green around the gills at the thought of having to be around a big dog, but he wanted to be supportive. Craig was already worried enough on behalf of their piggie, he could stay calm about this.

A few days later Tweek was sandwiched between an irate Tricia and a pissed off Craig in the back seat of Laura’s weird mini van/SUV crossover vehicle. Thomas rode shotgun, arms crossed over his massive chest and huffing like a pouty toddler. Laura wasn’t even trying to cheer her family up, she knew they’d calm down when they got to their destination so she amused herself with singing along to the radio and asking Tweek about how school was going recently.

Once they reached the school, Laura used her student ID to swipe them in and they walked into the reception area to find a young student in scrubs who greeted Laura cheerfully and told her to take everyone out to the yard and she’d find the Dr.

Laura led them through a maze of hallways to a door she had to keycard through again and out into a small yard. There were a couple of benches and a tree surrounded by a high fence.

Trish looked around with a frown on her face, “Mom this is awful small, this is the only place the dogs have to exercise?”

”We can’t take them off the school’s property, sweetie. Too much of a liability if something goes wrong.” Laura looked around with a resigned expression on her face, “That’s why I wanted to adopt one so badly; to give them a nice home with a family to love them and a place to run and play.”

Trish and Thomas both looked around the small enclosure sadly before Thomas spoke, “You always were a soft touch for critters in need, sweetheart. I’m glad you talked me into this.”

Tweek noticed that while Craig didn’t say anything, his boyfriend straightened up out of the grumpy slouch he’d been in all morning and offered his hand to Tweek. The blond smiled and took the proffered hand just as a slim, dark haired lady in gray scrubs walked out into the yard and greeted Laura warmly. Laura introduced each of them to the lady, who turned out to be one of the attending veterinarians, and they listened while the Dr. explained how the visit would work. She would bring the dog out and be in control of his lead until she felt it would be safe for him to be off the lead to interact.

After the Dr. disappeared back into the building, Laura and Thomas both moved to sit on one of the benches leaving the three kids standing in the yard. A different door opened a few minutes later and the cacophonous volume of twenty some dogs barking all at once hit Tweek like a boulder to the chest, causing him to freeze up and tremble. Craig pulled the shivering blond into his arms and whispered soothing nonsense in his ear as the Dr. came back out into the yard with a dog on a red leash. The door swung shut behind her blocking out the noise and Tweek started to calm down again.

All three children held a hand out for the dog to sniff as the Dr. brought him closer. Craig looked the animal over and felt himself softening. He’d been expecting a big, mean looking Pit bull that he could easily envision killing Stripe, but this dog was completely different. He was tall and lean with floppy ears and a curly tail. His face and ears were black with just a streak of white starting on the top of his head and running down between his eyes and around his nose. The rest of his fur was all a glossy white, with one round black patch on each side and another small black patch at the base of his tail. He had soft, intelligent brown eyes and a happy doggie grin on his face as his tail wagged gently.

The Dr. took another step toward them, allowing the dog to come a bit closer. He rubbed against Tricia’s legs and allowed her to scratch behind his ears for several seconds before moving over to Tweek. The blond froze again, a soft noise of discomfort escaping his throat. The dog looked at the scared boy for a moment before he did something that caused Craig to decide he was the perfect dog after all. Moving very slowly, the dog sidled up to Tweek and sat down in front of him, his head leaning on the blond’s stomach with his nose pointing up so he could watch the boy’s face. He didn’t move a single muscle until Tweek finally gathered the courage to reach down and stroke his head softly.

“Well, I think we can take him off the leash, wouldn’t you say so, Laura?” Craig startled for a second, having forgotten the Dr. was even there because he’d been so wrapped up in watching Tweek with the dog.

He looked up at the Dr. and asked, “What’s his name?”

The Dr. reached behind the dog’s head to unclip the leash from the straps that were around his nose and head, allowing him to snuggle closer to Tweek, “His name is Austin, but you guys can change it if you want to.”

Craig hadn’t noticed his mom and dad coming up behind him, so he jumped a little when his mom spoke, “That’s been the only name he’s ever really known; I think it would be a little confusing for him if we changed it now, right kids?”

“Austin’s fine by me, Mom.” Craig finally reached a hand over to pet the dog.

The Dr. handed a tennis ball to Trish and a few minutes later the three of them were having a blast running around throwing the ball for Austin and trying to get it back from him to throw again. He wasn’t real good about giving the ball back, he just wanted to run with it constantly. Craig thought that since the poor dog didn’t get much chance to run, he couldn’t really blame him for just wanting to get some of his energy out.

He was vaguely aware of his mom and dad signing some papers with the Dr., but he didn’t really pay much attention to them until his mom dug into her oversized purse and pulled out another set of straps and a leash.

”Mom, what is that thing?”

Laura didn’t look over from where she was adjusting the straps on Austins’ head, “A head collar, Craig. Austin is a strong dog, but with this, even Trish will be able to walk him without getting pulled around.” When Laura was satisfied with the fit of the contraption, she handed the leash over to Tricia, showing her how to put one hand through the loop and cautioning her to keep both hands on the leash at all times.

Craig looked over at Tweek, who was still watching Austin and Trish as they walked around the yard. The blond had a bemused smile on his face, and his twitches were significantly slower than they’d been earlier. “What do you think, babe? You’re not gonna avoid my house because we have a dog now, are you?”

Tweek shook his head, his eyes never leaving the black and white dog, “Ngggh…no. I’ll probably be over s-so much you’ll get sick of m-me.”  
  
  



	2. Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Craig has an idea for Tweek's 18th birthday, but he has to clear it through Richard and Diane first...

Tweek’s prediction was halfway true; the Tucker family could never get sick of having the nervous blond around, but after they brought Austin home he was always at their house unless he was working. Something about the dog’s mellow nature just soothed all of Tweek’s anxiety and fears. It didn’t hurt that he turned out to be incredibly protective; nobody got within 100 feet of the Tucker’s front door without Austin giving them an alert, and that made Tweek relax. There was no way the dog would allow the free-roaming murderers or rapists he feared anywhere near the house. Tucked securely between Craig and the wall, with Austin at his feet, Tweek came to appreciate feeling safe enough to get a full night’s sleep.

Craig put his dogs’ natural protective instincts to good use midway through their sophomore year of high school and took Austin with him to the Tweak’s house for a weekend when Richard and Diane weren’t home. The dog scared the crap out of the Underpants Gnomes so badly that they swore never to come back, bringing tears to the blond’s eyes and big hugs and kisses for his hero… the dog, not Craig. 

The dark haired boy was only _mildly_ annoyed that his boyfriend loved his dog more than him, or so the rest of the Tuckers always teased.

Craig made a rare solo visit to Tweak Bros. one afternoon while Tweek was at a rehearsal for the upcoming play during the fall of their senior year. Although the Tweaks treated him like a second son, he’d never felt all that comfortable around them without his boyfriend present. He definitely wasn’t one to just stop in to chat with Diane or watch sports with Richard as Tweek sometimes did with his parents while Craig worked, so he saw the look of surprise Richard wasn’t fully able to hide when he walked in alone.

Diane smiled at him from her place behind the register, “Craig, it’s nice to see you, of course, but you know Tweek isn’t here today.”

“I know, that’s why I came now.” He looked around the shop to make sure there weren’t any customers before asking, “Can I talk to you both for a minute?”

They smiled and nodded, allowing the stoic teenager a moment to gather his words, “OK, so you know how much time Tweek’s spent at my house since my mom adopted Austin, and you know how much Austin has helped with his anxiety.”

Diane smiled again, a little more naturally than her usual “customer service” face Craig was accustomed to, “Yes, it’s really quite wonderful how much your dog has helped him, dear.”

Craig looked down for a moment before meeting Richard’s gaze directly, “I know you’re not fond of large dogs, or dogs in general really, but I wanted to adopt a small dog for Tweek. It would go with us when we leave for college next summer, which is why is would have to be small. All of the apartments near campus have a 20 pound weight limit.”

Richard looked uncomfortable for a moment before asking, “Why can’t you just wait until you leave?”

“I thought about that, but I want Tweek to be bonded with a new dog that’s all his before I have to take him away from Austin. He’ll be anxious enough with that much change all at once; losing Austin and not having a dog he feels comfortable with already will make it worse for him.”

Diane and Richard had one of those silent conversations only people that have been together for years seem to be able to have, before Richard finally nodded and Diane smiled at Craig, “I assume you’d like to do this next month for his birthday?”

“Yes, I’ll pay the adoption and licensing fees and I’ll help him with food and anything else he needs. But I would like one of you to come with us; the dog will be living with you for the next eight or nine months, I want you to have some say in which one he picks.” 

Richard shuddered lightly, “I don’t think a dog shelter is a place I want to be, Darling. You’ll go with the boys, won’t you? Just please try to steer Tweek away from Chihuahuas… nasty little bitey rat-dogs.”

Diane smiled softly at Craig, thinking how wonderfully lucky Tweek was to have such a caring boyfriend, “Just let me know when so I can arrange to have someone here to help Richard.”

Craig spent the next three weeks picking up extra shifts at Whole Foods in the evenings, much to the annoyance of his boyfriend. He usually went to every single performance of Tweek’s shows but this time only made the Thursday afternoon matinee performed for the school and had to skip accompanying Tweek to the cast party at Wendy’s house Friday night.

He was glad his extra shifts were finally done, because it was becoming readily apparent that Tweek was at the end of his patience with Craig’s schedule change. More than one of the drama kids came into the store that evening to stroll around “casually” until they spotted him before quickly grabbing the closest item to buy and texting someone as they left. Craig explained to the cashier on duty with him what was going on and they had a good laugh over the random crap Tweek’s little spies were buying. Despite having a laugh with his co-worker over the whole ordeal, he’s not stupid; Tweek’s paranoia was starting to get to him and he’s afraid Craig is ditching him for someone else.

He thanked the manager for allowing him the extra shifts on his way out and when he got to his car he turned his phone on to see about 15 missed texts from Tweek, increasingly upset in tone as the night wore on.

_Thought you were at Wendy’s cast party, babe. What’s wrong?_

The phone rang as soon as the text sent, and Craig rolled his eyes fondly before picking up, “Hey babe, I just walked out of work and turned my phone back on. And I know you know I was at work tonight, because I saw like four of your drama club buddies come in over the last three hours.”

Tweek’s voice was pouty, “I’m sorry! I just… I miss you. You never work this much and you won’t tell me WHY you’re working all these extra hours and I started thinking you must just be tired of me and it hurt so much to think that and Jason can be a real dick and he said you were probably fucking somebody else…”

“Jason said what now? I’m gonna end that fucking moron.” Craig cut Tweek’s ramble off, “Babe, I covered a couple of vacations for co-workers. I’m sorry I’ve been so busy but I wanted the overtime so I could do something really special for your birthday. Tonight was my last extra shift.”

“Yeah?” His voice was hopeful and Craig hummed an agreement before Tweek spoke again, “So you swing by Wendy’s and I’ll be waiting out front for you. I’ve missed you and I want to spend time with you more than I want to be at a stupid cast party.”

After agreeing and ending the call Craig sighed. He’d figured Tweek would stay at the party and head home afterward, where Craig planned to surprise him. He and Diane were taking Tweek to Colorado Springs tomorrow to pick his dog and Craig wanted to get an early start. It was a two hour drive and he’d read on the website that the best bet for getting smaller dogs was to be there early. The adoption center opened at 9:30 on Saturday mornings and he wanted to be there by 9:00.

He turned into Wendy’s cul-de-sac and saw Tweek bouncing impatiently on his toes by the curb. He pulled up alongside his boyfriend and rolled the passenger window down, giving a lascivious smirk to the blond, “Do I know you, cause you look a lot like my next boyfriend, Cutie…”

Tweek gave him a very unimpressed look, “I changed my mind, I’m staying here and getting stoned off my ass. Jesus, Craig, that was the worst one yet.”

“Come on, Babe, you know you loooooove my cheesy pick up lines.” Craig smiled innocently at the blond, “Besides are you really gonna send me away when you’ve spent the last couple of weeks whining I haven’t had any time for you?”

Tweek huffed, but slid into the passenger seat of Craig’s car. After taking a moment to buckle in, he turned to face the dark haired boy and gave a smirk of his own, “Hey Tucker, you big stud, take me to bed or lose me forever.”

Craig seldom fully laughed out loud, but Tweek’s cute little smirk coupled with the infamous movie line just struck him as hilarious. Tweek was grinning widely as Craig tried to rein himself in a bit and finally wiped a tear from the corner of his eye before putting the car in reverse and backing out of the cul-de-sac to start the drive towards the Tweak’s house. “Babe, that was fucking awesome. You can quote Top Gun at me any time you want.”

Tweek shot him a confused look when they passed the turnoff to Craig’s street, but didn’t say anything until they were pulling into his own driveway, “Why are we at my house? We always sleep at your house because I can’t stand how my dad acts when I bring you over and…”

Craig cut the engine and leaned over to stop Tweek’s rambling with a short kiss, “I told you I was doing something special for you, so we’re sleeping here and leaving early tomorrow morning.”

Tweek gave him an assessing look for a few seconds before his face turned grumpy, “I’m not getting laid tonight, am I?” Craig’s answer was simply a raised eyebrow, causing Tweek to slump back against the seat, “God damnit! You duck me for the past three weeks and then expect me to keep my hands to myself when I finally get you back in bed with me? You’re a cruel man, Craig Tucker.”

“You can’t be quiet to save your own life, babe.” A look of disgust crossed Craig’s face, “I personally wouldn’t put it past your dad to record us and sell it at the coffee shop because having a gay son is _so good_ for business.”

Tweek shuddered, but he couldn’t refute his boyfriends’ claim. He was pretty sure that if his dad legally could, he’d put them in a glass cage at the shop like his very own little pet gays he could use to attract customers. His mom was far too invested in their relationship as well, in Tweek’s humble opinion, but he never got the feeling she wanted to make money off of it; she was just a typical over-involved mom.

They tried to close the doors quietly since it was late and they didn’t want to wake Tweek’s neighbors, but quiet went all to Hell when Tweek streaked around to the driver’s side and slammed Craig back against the car with a loud metallic thunk. “Whatever this surprise is better totally be worth having to go another night without you.”

Before Craig could reply Tweek pulled him into a desperate kiss. Tweek wasn’t the demonstrative, touchy one in their relationship despite being the more outwardly emotional of the two. Craig usually had to make the first moves, so on the occasions when Tweek took initiative his defenses always crumbled immediately and he let the blond manhandle him around to sprawl on the hood of his car, their lips never detaching.

Tweek was just starting to think he could work this situation to his favor and was reaching for Craig’s belt when a light hit them and a voice called out, “Tweek? Oh for Christ’s sake, dude, are you seriously trying to fuck Tucker on his car? At least take him in to your room; my mom heard you guys slamming around out here and thought somebody was trying to break in!”

Craig’s head thudded back against the car twice in quick succession, and then he sat up, pushing Tweek back as he did so. He shielded his eyes from the flashlight so he could see the boy that voice belonged to, “Thanks for the heads’ up, Malkinson. We’re going inside now, give your mom our apologies.”

Scott turned his flashlight off and waved once before heading back into his house. After a moment they could hear the click of a deadbolt and the porch light went out.

Tweek was vibrating and Craig wasn’t sure what exactly was causing it. He didn’t look like he was panicking but he proceeded with caution anyways, “Baby? Are you OK?”

“No, Craig, I am actually not OK. I just got cock-blocked by Scott fucking Malkinson of all people!” His voice was annoyed and Craig went off of red alert since Tweek obviously wasn’t about to have a meltdown. Well, not an anxiety fueled one anyways. Apparently his boyfriend got seriously grumpy after a couple weeks of abstinence; who knew?

He chuckled and pushed Tweek back further so he could slide off of the car, “That’s your own fault, trying to seduce me out in the open like this. C’mon, I’m serious about getting an early start and it’s already almost 1:00am.”

Tweek grumbled under his breath the whole way into the house and the entire time they were getting ready for bed. He finally calmed down when Craig promised they could spend the next night at his house if Tweek wanted to.

The blond looked at him like he was insane, “Why would I not want to? I’ve been going crazier than normal without you. Plus I miss Austin; I’ve been taking him for jogs for your mom while you’ve been working, but it’s not the same as having him cuddled up against my legs while we’re sleeping.”

Craig just smiled as he pulled Tweek into his arms and got settled under the covers. He had a feeling it’d be several more days before his boyfriend would want to leave his own house after their trip tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ch. 2 - I don’t know where the almost-smut came from. When I started writing this, I had no intentions of that happening, but there they go semi-getting-their-freak-on. The way I was writing Tweek, he kinda got a bit out of hand, I guess. I do tend to just plan the major points and let the rest fill itself in organically as I write. Oh well, it’s not graphic so it shouldn’t bother anybody…


	3. Casanova

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Craig and Tweek go to adopt a new dog!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ch. 3 - Finally getting to the adoption of the 2nd pupper! The shelter situation I describe is what we actually did when we adopted our little fella, as near as I could make it considering I have more people in my family. And yes… we did have a woman get super shitty with us because we both had the same dog in mind and we got through the approval process faster than she did.
> 
> Also: BSL = BULLSHIT. Pit bull bans piss me off like hardcore y’all. I researched a bit to see if the bans were still on the books and Denver is unapologetically keeping BSL on the books despite no drop in the rate of dog bites reported. As of 2010 (which is the last year I could find reliable data... more than 4000 dogs were destroyed by the county and city of Denver Colorado, simply for being a "pit bull type" breed. AKA: Staffordshires, AmStaffs, American Bulldogs, etc. Fuck Denver. As an RVT I work with Pibbles all the time and they consistently are the BEST dogs. I would rather take on a herd of Pibbles than one single Chihuahua any old day. I’ve been bitten 4 times professionally and 3 more times in civilian life… ALL BY CHIHUAHUAS. Evil little rat dogs. Here endeth that rant.

6:00am came faster than either boy really cared for, but Craig was insistent on dragging Tweek out of bed and into the shower with him. He normally wouldn’t do anything that could be seen as too couple-y at the Tweak’s house, but Richard was already gone for the day. With the shop opening at 6:30am he was long since there to start the coffee and prepare for his day, leaving Craig feeling secure enough to get naked with his boyfriend even if it was just for the purposes of getting clean for the day.

Diane was waiting on them with a chipper smile and a basket over her arm, “I have coffee and cinnamon apple muffins, boys. That’ll get us to where we’re going so we can have a proper breakfast.”

Since Tweek’s sleeping habits had improved, he was not much of a morning person. He turned his grouchy face on Craig and grumbled, “Seriously? We’re taking my mom along for my super secret birthday surprise? Lame, Craig.”

Diane rolled her eyes and Craig chuckled a bit as he pulled the irate blond into his arms, “I absolutely promise that when we get there, you will be happy to have your mom along.”

Diane offered to drive, and Craig agreed gladly. Her mini van offered a lot more leg room for long trips than Craig’s older model Chevy Cavalier did. His car was great for getting around Park county, but the prospect of a two hour drive in the small car was something he hadn’t been looking forward to. Tweek had the foresight to buckle himself into the middle of the bench seat, so he could curl up against Craig. He snoozed off and on, letting the deep timbre of Craig’s voice as he spoke quietly with Diane soothe him.

Craig shook him awake just as they were passing a sign welcoming them to Colorado Springs. ”Craig, why are we here? When you said two hours, I thought we were going to Denver…”  Tweek’s voice was still gruff from sleeping and the unusually deep tone made Craig smile a bit.

“Silly, he’s not going to tell you why we’re here, that’ll ruin your surprise.” Diane spoke up before Craig could, “But now that you’re awake, what would you like for breakfast? There’s an IHOP up ahead, if you’re in the mood for pancakes, sweetheart.”

Pancakes turned out to be fine with Tweek and they had a quick breakfast, while Craig kept an eye on the clock. He also took advantage of IHOP’s free wifi to pull up the dog shelter’s address and get a map from their current location. He had to argue with Diane before she’d let him pay the bill for breakfast, but she shocked the dark haired boy a bit by handing over the keys to her van before he could even ask.

“I’m assuming you know where we’re going from here, Craig.” It was a statement, not a question.

She didn’t even look up to confirm with him as she was busy buckling herself into the back seat, rightly assuming Tweek would want to sit with his boyfriend Craig nodded as he adjusted the rearview mirror, “Yeah it’s actually only a couple of blocks.” He looked over to Tweek, who was sitting shotgun beside him and smiled, “Do you trust me, babe?”

The blond gave him a confused smile, but answered, “Of course I do.” Craig pulled a blindfold out of his pocket and handed it to Tweek, “Put that on for me, honey. I’ll let you know when you can take it off.”

The blond hesitated for several moments, chewing his lip nervously and looking between his boyfriend and his mother several times before he hesitantly slipped the blindfold over his eyes. Craig waved his hand in front of Tweek’s eyes a few times to make sure he wasn’t cheating and finally started the van up. The ride was silent because Craig was concentrating on where he needed to go, and that ratcheted up Tweek’s anxiety. It’d been years since he seriously worried about being sold into slavery; Craig had put his foot down with Richard during their middle school years and informed the older man it wasn’t funny and Tweek didn’t take it as a joke, but he was starting to worry that his parents had finally convinced Craig he should be sold.

Just as his breathing was starting to escalate towards hyperventilation, he felt the van park and heard the engine stop. He reached for his blindfold, but gentle hands stopped him, “Can you leave it on just a few more minutes for me, baby? I’ll help you get out of the car and into the building.”

Tweek let out a shaky exhale and nodded. He reached for his seat-belt and only fumbled a little bit with the buckle he couldn’t see before he felt small hands nudging his own out of the way. ”It’s OK, sweetheart, let me help you with this.” His mom’s voice was calm and that helped Tweek to calm himself a bit.

His door opened and Craig’s larger hands helped him out of the van. He wondered briefly if they were at a park, because he heard several dogs barking close by. He wrapped his arm through Craig’s and let the older boy guide his steps, stepping up slightly when Craig told him they reached a curb. He heard Craig open a door and was lead into an air conditioned building. He could tell they were in a big lobby because of the echo-y quality of the voices around him.

“OK, baby, take the blindfold off.”, Craig’s voice held a hint of anticipation and Tweek ripped the offending fabric from his face only to stare around in shock.

He turned to look at his mom, not believing what he was seeing, “Mom? Are we really…”

“Surprise!” His mom gestured happily to the desk, “Ask them how you go about meeting your future dog, son.”

He jumped into Craig’s arms, squeezing the dark haired boy tightly, “How did you get my dad to agree to this?”

“Well, it’s going to college with us. Your dad agreed with me that taking you away from Austin wouldn’t help your anxiety, honey.” Craig gave the blond in his arms a quick kiss then started shepherding him towards the desk marked Adoption Counsellor. “The apartments on campus have a 20 pound weight limit, though, so you have to find a little dog.”

Diane took a clipboard from the lady at the desk, “You boys go look through the kennels while I fill out the application.” She handed Craig a piece of paper and a pen from her purse, “It says on this form that you’ll need the kennel number and name of the dog. And Tweek, Dad would prefer you not pick a Chihuahua if possible.”

Tweek nodded to his mom then grabbed Craig’s hand and started pulling him towards the desk. They were given the rules, which were pretty standard like not reaching into the kennels, and then the excited blond was off like a shot. Craig was a little worried the loud barking of so many animals would upset him, but after years of exposure to Austin Tweek obviously wasn’t worried about being bitten or attacked anymore. Several of the larger dogs had their own small rooms, but Tweek didn’t even hesitate as he headed towards the door marked Ward A. Once inside the room he paused at the sheer wall of noise that hit him, but he suppressed his nerves.

He was getting his own dog! He loved Austin; the black and white dog made him feel safe… but he had to be at the Tucker’s house for that feeling of safety. Now he could be at his own house and feel secure! He’d had the same fears that leaving Austin behind would wreak havoc on his anxiety when he went to college, but he could take his own dog with him! Even if it was a little dog instead of a big guy like Austin, it would still at least bark and alert him if there was something to be worried about.

He was starting to feel sad seeing how many pit bulls there were, but he knew he couldn’t adopt them because they were way too big. Plus even after some of the other cities started lifting the stupid bans, Denver still had one. He couldn’t take a pit bull to the city with him even if he could have a bigger dog. Stupid breed bans…

Craig was noting down any small dogs he saw so he could take Tweek back for a closer second look, but the blond hadn’t really given more than a cursory glance to most of the little dogs they’d passed so far. They were halfway down the row of kennels in Ward C when Tweek finally stopped dead in his tracks and squatted down to speak to one of the dogs.

The animal was tiny, but his huge personality was readily apparent in the way he was dancing around in circles on his hind legs as Tweek spoke to him. Craig looked at the cage card and saw it said the dog was a poodle mix, but he didn’t look like a poodle at all. He snapped a quick picture and texted it to his mom

_They have this guy listed as a poodle, Mom. What is he really?”_

It only took a few minutes before Laura’s reply came in; _Looks like some kind of Pomeranian and Dachshund mix to me._

Craig could see that. He had the long body and short, sturdy legs of a Dachshund and the cute, foxy little face of a Pomeranian. His ears flipped over at the very tip instead of standing completely upright, and his tail curled over his back more tightly than Austin’s with long feathered fur that laid over to the side. His fur was a reddish blond with cream on his face and belly. He had long feathered fur on the backs of his legs that gave the appearance he was wearing Genie pants. His eyes were dark brown and lively and he had an adorable little doggie grin as he yipped happily to everything Tweek said to him. Without removing his eyes from the dog, Tweek reached out for Craig’s leg, “Craig, I want this one.”

“Way ahead of you, baby, I saw the way you reacted to him.” Craig double-checked to make sure he had the correct kennel number written down, “But if you want him, we need to go back to the front now instead of looking at the rest of the dogs, because I saw some other people writing his kennel number down as well.”

Tweek jumped to his feet, grabbed Craig’s hand, and started towing the dark haired boy behind him as he speed walked back to the lobby of the shelter. Diane smiled when she saw the look of frantic determination on her sons’ face, “Tweek, they already approved the application you just need to let them know which dogs you want to meet.”

Craig gave the information to the adoption counselor and they were led down the hall to a meeting room to wait for the small dog to be brought in. There were chairs and a few toys scattered on the floor. There was also a panic button high on the wall, which was a chilling reminder that dogs could be dangerous if they were in situations where they felt threatened.

Craig was so used to gentle Austin that he was shocked anew every time his mom or one of her co-workers got bitten at work, but even Austin had his triggers. He couldn’t stand Kenny McCormick; growling and showing teeth every time the boy came anywhere near him. He didn’t growl at Karen, but he avoided the girl whenever she came to visit Tricia, and Laura theorized he could smell the drugs from Karen’s parents on her. He was also scared of men raising their voices, and the first several months he lived with the Tuckers he would run and hide under a bed every time Thomas opened a beer. Laura said he’d been horribly abused before he ended up on the euthanasia list at the Park County shelter and the school took him in; it was easy to forget that most days since he was such a calm and loving dog, but Craig was pretty sure Austin could do some damage if he ever lost that calm.

There was a tap on the door and Craig looked up as one of the kennel attendants brought the small dog in. After going over a few safety rules that he could tell Tweek absolutely planned to disregard, she smiled and left them to get acquainted. Tweek plopped down on the floor, and the little animal raced to jump into his arms, wiggling frantically and licking every centimeter of his face. Diane knelt next to her son and stretched out a hand for the dog to smell, earning more wiggles and kisses to her hand that made her giggle, “Well, he’s certainly friendly! Are you sure this is the one, sweetheart? You don’t want to meet any others before you decide?”

“Nope, I want this one.” Tweek hadn’t taken his eyes from the dog since it came into the room, “He’s cute and he’s small, but he’s still feisty.”

Craig moved to sit next to Tweek, and the little dog launched himself at the dark haired boy, frantic to cover him in kisses as well. The adoption counselor popped her head back into the room and saw how the boys were reacting to the little animal and his exuberant affections, “Soooo… you don’t need to meet anybody else, I’m guessing?” Tweek shook his head, and the counsellor smiled at him. “OK, then I’ll give you what history we have on this little guy. He was an owner surrender, the people who brought him in said they just didn’t have time for him. He doesn’t respond to verbal commands or the name we gave him, but he’s very smart so he should learn quickly. We’re not sure where he is with his potty training, so I recommend a kennel. He’s 8 months old and he wasn’t neutered when he came in. He is now, actually it was done yesterday so you’ll have to give him his pain meds for the next couple of days.”

Tweek looked up from where he’d been fondling the puppy’s ears, “So I can leave with him now?”

The lady laughed gently, “Pretty soon. We have to give him one last exam to make sure he’s healthy when he leaves the shelter and we have to get his rabies tag and dog license for you. We’ll put him in a collar and leash, get the tags on him, and bring him up front for you in a couple of minutes.”

They headed back out to the lobby to wait, and Tweek spied a small shop off to the side. With nothing better to do for the next few minutes, they perused the items, learning from the lady working the counter that the items were donated to the shelter and re-sold to help cover the medical care the animals received. Craig saw a kennel and remembering the words of the counselor flipped over the price tag. It was far cheaper than buying a brand new kennel at a pet store, so he pulled out his wallet and paid for the kennel and a pillow that fit inside of it. These were items he already had on his list for the pet supply store but if he could get a few of the things Tweek needed for his pet and help the other dogs at the same time, he considered it a win.

Diane offered to take the kennel out to the van and Craig thanked her. He had to be on hand to pay the adoption fees when they brought the puppy out to Tweek, or he wouldn’t have even considered allowing his boyfriend’s mother to cart things around for him. But the kennel was small and Diane was used to lugging around heavy bags of coffee beans, so Craig tried not to feel too guilty about it.

He stepped up next to Tweek, who was bouncing on his toes near the adoption counselor’s desk and wrapped an arm around the excited blond. Tweek smiled at him then turned his face towards the door leading into the kennel again. A short, dark haired lady was at the other adoption counselor’s desk, her voice starting to rise with irritation. Craig saw the other counselor motion towards them and the frown on the woman’s face before she walked over, “That puppy should have been mine. If I’d gotten up here 5 minutes sooner you wouldn’t be getting him!”

Craig flipped the woman off reflexively, which just seemed to piss her off more, but he really didn’t have the time or patience for her tantrums, “You’re trying to start an argument with us over which dog we adopted? Are you serious right now?”

The woman huffed and figeted like she was searching for something else to say before finally turning on her heel and stalking back over to the other adoption counselor. Craig was in a rather bemused state; on one hand he couldn’t believe somebody just tried to argue with him over a dog, on the other hand his faith in humanity was so low he actually could believe it.

His musings were cut off by an excited squeal from the blond at his side, and he looked up to see the puppy pulling towards Tweek, straining at the leash attached to his collar. He made a mental note to look into a harness when the poor little guy gave a harsh cough after an especially exuberant lunge forward. Tweek dropped to his knees to gather the puppy into his arms and cuddled him close to his face, talking baby talk to the wiggling creature the entire time.

Craig made sure to pay special attention to the instructions for giving the little guy his pain meds (Craig sympathized, having his nuts cut off must’ve sucked) and the other information Tweek would need to give to the veterinarian regarding vaccines and flea preventatives… because from the look on his boyfriend’s face everything other than the small brown fluffball in his arms had ceased to exist to the blond boy.

After signing all the paperwork and paying the adoption fees Craig nudged Tweek slightly to take his attention off of the puppy, “You ready to take your new little buddy home, honey?”

Tweek gave him a smile so radiantly happy he literally stopped breathing for a moment and nearly missed his boyfriend’s soft reply, “Best. Birthday. Ever!”

Diane drove home, rightly assuming Craig would want to sit with Tweek, and that Tweek wouldn’t be pried off of his new dog with a crowbar. She smiled to herself as the boys debated names. They went through the gamut of typical dog names, tried some Harry Potter names, swung over to TV shows they both liked… nothing seemed to fit the energetic little bundle of wiggles and kisses resting in Tweek’s arms. Tweek suggested a few coffee themed names that would’ve had his father cooing with delight, but one look at Craig’s unenthusiastic face put an end to that attempt.

“If he would’ve been a girl I was gonna pick Taffy, but then Craig saw on his kennel card he was a boy… and I just don’t have anything fitting! He loves to give kisses, but Kissy sounds like such a girl dog name…” Tweek’s expression was somber enough to convince a stranger he was headed to a funeral rather than having trouble naming a pet.

Craig latched on to Tweek’s comment and started mumbling names, “Lover? Sinatra? Valentino?”

Diane looked up and met the boys’ eyes in the rear view, “If you’re going that direction, how about Casanova? He was a legendary lover, like your little friend here, and you can always shorten it to Cas…”

Tweek squealed, causing the momentarily calm puppy in his arms to yip and start bouncing around excitedly again, “Mom that is perfect!”

Craig smiled softly at his boyfriend, “So Cas, then?”

At Tweek’s nod, he mentally added name tag to the mental list of supplies they needed to stop for when they got back to South Park.

“Craig?” Craig hmmed an acknowledgement to the blond next to him, “This is why you said IF I wanted to sleep at your house tonight, isn’t it? You knew I wouldn’t want to leave my awesomest birthday present ever at home alone tonight.”

“Of course I knew that, honey.” Craig smiled at Tweek and reached over to skritch behind Cas’ tiny ears, “I already arranged with mom and Trish to keep an eye on Stripe for a couple of days so you and I can spend time with our newest son. Get him settled and started on obedience and potty training… all that fun responsible puppy parent stuff.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Important note: Cas was an owner surrender… but he was also a “Christmas Puppy” I know the story is set in the fall because for some reason in my head Tweek’s birthday is October, but in real life we adopted him in February. He still had a Christmas bandanna tied around his neck when they got tired of him and dropped him in the shelter. Please for the love of Jesus… don’t buy animals as Christmas presents if you’re not willing to take on a 15 year commitment!!
> 
> We named our Casanova because of the insistent kissing, as described in the story… but the name fits him in SO many other ways as well. For the first several weeks after his neuter while he still had boy-hormones in his system, he would violate his bed several times a day as well as trying to mount our cats, and poor old Austin who outweighs him by a good 65 pounds. He also turned out to be a first-class panty thief, much to my daughter’s eternal mortification. 
> 
> The abuse and reactions I describe Austin having are true. We’ll never know the full extent of what he went through before he was rescued by the school, but even after 6 years of safety certain things freak him out and cause a reaction. Beer in brown bottles makes him scared. Grown men he doesn’t know upset him, especially if they raise their voices or act aggressively. He has scars under his fur. He’s still the most loving animal I have ever had the absolute privilege of working with, and the most naturally child friendly dog I have ever encountered.

**Author's Note:**

> The parts where I describe anything about the dogs… how they acted when we were meeting them, appearance, etc… that’s really my boys. I’m using their real names and all since they are puppers and they won’t mind. If I can figure out how to post or link a picture, I’ll do so. Because my boys are that awesome and everybody should get to meet them, even if it is vicariously through a fic and a picture. :)


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